The Battle of Madam Malkin's
by AmazingGraceless
Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged that one does not get in the way of Lavender Brown and a pair of dress robes she adores. Fay Dunbar and Alice Tolipan learn this the hard way.


**AN: This is for QFL, to write about a battlefield (as creatively as possible) and my word count is 930.**

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It was a universally acknowledged truth that Lavender Rowena Brown was not to be gotten in the way of if there were new dress robes at Madam Malkins. Fay Dunbar and Alice Tolipan discovered this truth for themselves one summer afternoon in Diagon Alley.

Alice stayed with Fay every week of the summer that they went for school supplies. Alice was a muggle-born, and she knew that her parents never exactly believed the whole magic part. That was fine by Alice. She had a feeling she wouldn't have believed it herself if it weren't for the fact that she did magic every single day.

But the point was that she stayed with Fay for a week so that she could buy her school supplies, and also catch up with the Wizarding World again. It was an interesting life, Alice would say, living in dual worlds.

Fay's father turned them loose at the Leaky Cauldron.

"You are fourteen, after all," Mr. Dunbar said, his face as tired and weary and worn as it always was. "Others are letting their children roam around the World Cup. See no reason why the same can't be allowed in a much safer environment."

"Thank you Daddy!" Fay embraced her father.

Alice looked away uncomfortably. She knew the complications of the Dunbar family's relationships, but she preferred to stay out of it— partially by Fay's request.

So the two girls headed down the wondrous Diagon Alley, their pockets full of Galleon and their eyes full of marvel. Alice stopped to notice a display in one of the shops— Madam Malkin's.

In the display there was a mannequin dressed in robes with a unique floral print in a leaf green. It looked perfect for Alice.

"We have to buy them!" Alice cried, pointing to them. Fay glanced at them, not sure what was so special about them. But they did have to buy dress robes, after all, and Malkins' always fit better than Twillfit and Tatting's. So they entered the shop, unprepared for the sleeping terror that lay within.

Lavender Brown was searching the racks of witches' dress robes.

"Should we say hello?" Alice asked, turning to Fay.

"Hey!" Fay waved at Lavender Brown, who gave a small "I'm busy don't bother me" smile and went back to looking through the racks.

"Not very friendly," Alice murmured. Fay just shrugged and went for uniforms, while Alice went to look for dress robes. Alice knew Fay's dress size, so she started with her, and immediately found a powder blue dress similar to Cinderella's that would totally match her eyes. Alice placed the hangar on Fay's dressing room door, where Madam Malkin was fitting her uniform.

And now, Alice needed to hunt down a copy of the display dress robes. She spotted the final one from across the room, she ran towards it and placed her hand on the hangar— at the same time as Lavender did.

"Um, excuse me?" Lavender sounded disgusted. "These are my robes."

"They're not yours, they're hanging up in a shop," Alice calmly reminded her.

"Do you see the off-the-shoulder sleeves?" Lavender pulled a gauzy sleeve out for Alice to see. "These will show off my perfect shoulders.

"There's other off-the-shoulder robes in the shop," Alice said. "And if you don't like them, you could go for some in Twillfit and Tattings."

"But I don't feel like it!" Lavender stomped her foot to emphasize her whining. Perhaps Alice should have left it at that, but just then she didn't feel like backing down, exactly. Her blood boiled to fight her most annoying roommate.

"Well, I'm not letting go," Alice said. "These are the only green witches' robes in the entire shop! And I have red hair! Not much goes with it, you know!"

"Sounds like a you problem, not a me problem," Lavender said with a shrug. She then shoved Alice. Alice stumbled back, then drew her wand.

"Accio dress robes!" Alice cried, and the hanger came flying to her.

"Arresto momento!" Lavender cried. The robes hung in midair. The two girls stared each other down.

"I didn't know that you knew that spell," Alice said.

"I'm not nearly as dumb as you think," Lavender said. "Especially when it comes to fighting for my right to fashion."

"And Parvati helped you," Alice deadpanned. "Parvati definitely helped you."

"That's not the point!" Lavender stomped her foot again, cementing Alice's image of her as an overgrown toddler witch. "Point is, I'm giving you one more chance to give up the robes!"

"Then come and get them from me," Alice said, and she lunged towards the robes.

"Flipendo!" Lavender shouted, and Alice went flying backwards through a rack of clothing and it toppled over on top of her.

Alice wiggled her way out from under it, and quickly set it upright with a little magical use. She then scanned the room for her opponent. Alice was not a fighter, rarely standing up for herself despite being in Gryffindor. But perhaps that would change today. Perhaps she would finally have her way.

Right as Alice spotted Lavender, Madam Malkin and Fay came running out.

"I heard a loud crash," Madam Malkin said. She looked from Lavender to Alice, and became suspicious at the lack of damage to her store. "What happened?"

"Oh, silly Alice tripped and knocked a rack over, but we fixed it," Lavender said.

"I see," Madam Malkin said. "Would you like to try on those dress robes, Miss Brown? I'm sure they'd look lovely on you."

Alice stared blankly after.


End file.
